Man jailed over Grenfell fraud

A man has been jailed for five years for fraud in relation to Grenfell Tower. Moses Ettienne, 49 was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, 28 March following a trial. He had claimed to have been residing in the tower at the time of the fire and claimed hotel accommodation and sustenance to a value of £47,415.75. Ettienne, who used to reside in the tower but had moved out several years before the fire, initially gave a flat number to The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) that did not exist, and then refused to provide the council or the police with details of the flat he was claiming to live in. Ettienne claimed that this was due to his ‘top secret’ work with foreign governments on renewable energy and that the flat may still contain these ‘top secret’ Government files. He even tried to claim that as a result of his government work he was afforded diplomatic immunity as a result of him being attached to the US Mission in Geneva. The reality was he held no diplomatic status in the UK and that whilst he had created two renewable energy companies with Companies House, both were closed after a year due to lack of trading. Evidence showed that he was in fact a second hand vintage clothes stall holder. He was arrested and charged in September 2018.